'Cancel Somalia's debt' and deal with famine, NGOs urge

World leaders gathering in London have been urged to cancel drought-hit Somalia’s debt as millions of people in the African country face starvation.

The United Nations is seeking a further $900 million this year for Somalia, where more than six million people need humanitarian assistance and 275,000 malnourished children are at risk of starvation, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said today.

“This morning we presented the revised humanitarian response plan seeking an additional $900 million to the end the year,” Guterres said in opening remarks to an international conference on Somalia hosted by British Prime Minister Theresa May.

Read: Extreme drought in Somalia

Somalia is in the grip of an intense drought. In the worst affected areas, lack of water has wiped out crops and killed livestock. Communities are being forced to sell their assets and borrow food and money to survive.

Lack of access to basic health services means that 1.9 million people may die of preventable diseases this year, the Disasters Emergency Committee says on its website. Maternal mortality rates are already amongst the highest in the world.